Love Will Keep us Together
by TwiggyFallon
Summary: Eiley and her eleven Irish sisters have fallen in love with boys from a large, farming family. The only problem? They're Princesses. Rated M for adult themes and language. Based on Twelve Dancing Princesses.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Though the idea was inspired by the Twelve Dancing Princesses, I own _all _the characters in this story.

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Once in a time long ago, born by her majesty, Doireann of Buckley, and his majesty, King Luchtaine McDougal Eamon Valentine of Buckley, were twelve beautiful daughters, each naughty and nice, and special in their own particular ways.

The first would be Isolde, twenty-four, her lips full and rosy.

Second came Merriande, twenty-three, whom was social and nosy.

Third was Galiana, twenty-two, whom was brave as a bear.

Fourth, then, was Lillith, twenty-one, with honey-blonde hair.

Fifth came Aghamora, twenty, whom was always well read.

Sixth was Dairine, nineteen, who could make ten dresses from a single spool of thread.

Seventh came Olena, eighteen, who loved to draw the palace.

Eighth was Constance, seventeen, whose words never spoke of malice.

Ninth was Kiandra, seventeen, who sang like a dove.

Tenth came Eiley, sixteen, with a heart full of love.

Eleventh came Pierette, fifteen, whom always smelled like a rose.

Twelfth was Rosamund, fourteen, excellent in her prose.

On one particular night, King Valentine, proud and clueless, could not fall asleep, so he stayed up all night picking and choosing suitors for his twelve daughters. After all, with the oldest at twenty-four and the youngest fourteen, why not start now? Why not? After all, he had married at sixteen. And he would certainly sleep easier knowing that his daughters were safe in bed with one man rather than running around with six each. It was a rather horrible thought of losing them, for each had their own special place in his heart. So, from his desk made of antique gold, he sat in his chair and let his mind unfold.

That next week, without saying a peep, twelve Princes came to the castle while the girls were asleep. He told them each his predicament, and let them tell their stories. However, once the girls were bathed and ready to meet the Princes, something went terribly wrong. One by one, the Princesses each rejected them, leaving the King stunned and out of ideas. When he asked the girls what was wrong with each one, they had no problem speaking their minds.

To Isolde they brought the fine Prince Ceylon from Sri Lanka, whom had a palace of gold, but a heart that was cold.

Merriande was promised to Franz, an Austrian Prince who was cursed with a limp and a wince.

Galiana was found Masafumi from Japan, but for the girls' taste, he was a little too tan.

His majesty brought Lillith Prince Ignasi from Spain, who was handsome but much too vain.

Bahuli from India was Aghamora's test, but he turned out to be too short at best.

Dairine received Yezid from the Middle East, but beneath his appearance he was only a beast.

Santeri from Finland came to call then, but Olena seemed to like him no more than a friend. Constance found Alexandre from Greece to be quite unflawed, until she found out that his nobility was fraud.

Puanani from Polynesia was good-mannered and holy, but his family found Kiandra's to be nothing but lowly.

Eiley's Baudoin from France seemed to be true, until he admitted to having a wife or two.

Pierette and Antanas from Lithuania grew close quickly, but his words of romance left her feeling quite sickly.

Rosamund's Salheddine from Morocco had a very pleasant face, but was disowned by his family because of disgrace.

After they pleaded their cases, the King was forced with a decision. He could either let them court whoever they pleased, or pick them to feel a bit more at ease. He thought and thought for a fortnight at least, then decided he'd make courting altogether cease.


	2. Chapater 2

It had just reached the stroke of midnight when the youngest of the twelve Princesses, Rosamund, opened the window, her dainty ungloved hands grabbing the windowsill and pulling herself up. The others trailed behind her, climbing up along the thick rope they had thrown down along the castle, grabbing onto the sturdy vines when needed to hold themselves up.

"Wait a moment until you check for Papa," the sister Dairine whispered while trying to keep the golden shoe on her left foot.

"Has he gone to bed?" The sister Constance underneath her asked.

Dairine squinted, then turned around. "I believe so. I don't see a thing."

Underneath Constance, Merriande said in a loud whisper, "that's because it's dark out!"

"Shh!" All the sisters said in unison.

"Why does our room have to be on the top floor?" Kiandra whined.

"Because it makes it that much harder to sneak out," Merriande suggested.

Aghamora, under her, answered. "Well, all this sneaking out is making me tired. I doubt we get more than four hours of sleep per night," she said, her last words straining as she and the sisters ahead of her were just reaching the window.

"Stop worrying, it's bad for your complexion," Isolde, the oldest, warned her.

"Who cares about my complexion when there's no one worthy to see it?" Aghamora retorted.

"If that's how you feel you may as well throw away your corset," Eiley smirked.

"_And _your bloomers. If no one sees the top half I suspect no one would see the bottom," bold Galiana snorted.

There were giggled coming from all eleven sisters' lips, as it was well known that all twelve sisters had a playful interest in boys.

Olena's eyes widened as she silently waved her arms around, silencing her sisters.

"Papa!" she said in an exaggerated whisper, each of them jumping into their fluffy, oversized beds and hiding their cloaks under their mattresses. They kicked off their delicate shoes that were heavy with gold or silver embellishments, the heels clicking on the shiny floorboards just as the door creaked open with no warning.

"Oh, hello father!" Lillith exclaimed, as her bed was closest to the door.

Stepping in, he suspiciously eyed the room, making sure each girl was in her bed.

"I see you girls are all still awake," he smiled.

"Yes father, we wanted to stay up and say goodnight after you finished your work," Pierette asked, brushing her long curly hair with the brush her father had given her when she was a little girl.

"Well that's very thoughtful Pierette, thank you," he said, making sure their windows were locked and closed.

"Where was Lucy today?" Rosamund asked about their "nanny". She had been with them since birth and their mother couldn't let her go, so now she coordinated their daily schedules.

"Sick. Your mother let her go home early. Lucy will be in tomorrow morning to assure that you are awake for your lessons. Goodnight girls."

"Goodnight father," the girls said cheerfully, then excitedly jumped out from underneath their covers and started undressing to change into their nightclothes.

"I'd much like to back to go back there again," Constance said shyly, speaking of the place they had snuck out to go dancing. Kiandra, her twin, playfully hit her on the behind with her clean, white nightgown.

"Most likely to see that gentleman again," She suggested forwardly.

"We musn't go back there for a week at least," Isolde, the oldest claimed.

"Why ever not?" sleepy Lillith questioned, yanking the nightgown over her head.

"Perhaps you were looking in the other direction, but there were at least a dozen of papa's "friends" lurking about the place. And you _know _they weren't there to dance."

"A dozen? Perfect. One to strangle each of us," Pierette added dramatically.

"Isolde, do you really believe Papa knows?" Olena asked, hopping into bed in an unladylike manner.

"Of course. Why else would they have been there?"

"But he didn't say a thing when he came in to say goodnight," Merriande wondered aloud.

Eiley laughed. "That doesn't matter, Papa wouldn't say anything even if he wanted to. He would most likely wait for us to feel so terrible we'd confess to sneaking out and promise never to date ever again."

"Either way, we need somewhere new to go tomorrow night," Galiana announced, blowing out the candles next to a heavily sleeping Aghamora.

"Unless, of course, you want to be asleep tomorrow night like _that _one," she said, teasingly pointing to Aghamora.

"I think I know a place," Dairine said quietly, almost ashamed of mentioning what she was about to say.

"Where?" The awake sisters asked almost in unison. Dairine signaled for them to all gather around on her luxurious, fluffy bed.

"Last week when I was taking riding lessons, Duchess got lost and we ended up not too far from here in a huge field. I ended up wandering around with her until it turned dark and I could see nothing but corn. Well, you could imagine how scared I was, after being out there for so long, and I knew Papa would start to worry about me. So I started screaming as loud as I could, and in less than a minute, I heard someone running towards me."

"Who was it?" Rosamund asked, her eyes wide.

"It was a man. His eyes were dark as chocolate, and when he looked at me, I felt something inside me nearly explode."

"Well? Who was it?" Olena asked.

Dairine blushed and bit her lip as though she was feeling warm just thinking about him.

"His name was Killian McCafferty."

"Does he have brothers?" Merriande asked, trying not to seem too anxious.

Dairine's eyes widened as she gushed, "brothers and cousins, all boys."

"Have you met them?" Pierette wondered, playing with her hair.

"No," Dairine answered, "but right before Killian left from walking me back, he told me that he and his brothers go to Finn's pub almost every night."

"Finn's _pub_?" Isolde retorted, obviously not liking the idea. "We are _not_ going to Finn's pub!"

"Fabulous," Lillith answered sarcastically to Isolde, throwing a dainty hand in the air. "I'm sure Papa would be more than happy to let you live here forever as the old maid. But tomorrow, we're going."

The girls all scramble to their beds to wait for the next night, none of them admitting that they would not be able to sleep that night. Eiley, however, opened her mouth in the darkness and whispered with a yawn.

"I like Irish boys."


End file.
